ESSEX WORTHIES. 159
Brown had saved money and was then able to retire from business ;
and we may with confidence presume that his geological studies were
not neglected. He removed to Stanway, a village about three miles
from Colchester, and lived there during the remainder of his life.
He purchased a house and farm, and devoted the rest of his days to
the practical study of geology and allied subjects.
John Brown's House at Stanway. From a. Drawing by H. A. Cole.
Mr. Brown was twice married, but when I first knew him he was
a widower without children. He provided for his sister, Mrs. Wagstaff,
whose husband had died ; and he brought up, educated, and appren-
ticed her only son, Frederic, whom he made his heir. Frederic Wagstaff
ultimately gave up his business—printing—and became a dissenting
minister, teetotal lecturer, and a writer for Cassell's publications and
the "Christian World." In 1882-83 he was in charge of a chapel at
Epping. Mr. Wagstaff died in 1884, and his widow, who resides at
St. Leonard's-on-Sea, has lent me for reproduction in our journal the
only known portrait of John Brown—a photograph on paper, taken
in or about the year 1856.
When John Brown retired to Stanway, although he had a respon-